Can I sell these?

[Willibab]

So I have had some requests for buying the creatures I've been making, I did intend to put them on Itch for a couple of bucks (Large quantity to make up for potential poor quality xD) But I have also had some people mentioning ''those are great fakemon/pokemon'' meaning they clearly look like pokemon to some.

So...Do these look too much like pokemon to sell?
I would like anyone who buys them to be able to use them commercially, but the question is...Can they? And if not, why?

 

[RCXGaming]

I don't think there should be any problems since these aren't actual Pokemon. They're original concepts, even if the style is in Gen 2 Pokemon style.

If you were trying to sell custom assets using designs from the actual Pokemon games, that'd be a different story.

 

[ATT_Turan]

I would like anyone who buys them to be able to use them commercially, but the question is...Can they?

The question is...why wouldn't they? I'm not the biggest expert, but none of them appear to be duplicating actual Pokémon, so what would prevent commercial usage?

 

[Ms Littlefish]

Monster collecting and taming games aren’t exactly new concepts. I’d probably just not call them fakemon in any of the postings and advertisings. Some of them have similar design principles but they aren’t 1:1 copies of any existing Pokemon.

 

[Willibab]

The question is...why wouldn't they? I'm not the biggest expert, but none of them appear to be duplicating actual Pokémon, so what would prevent commercial usage?

Just....Some people putting silly ideas in my head.. And the fact that there doesn't seem to be anyone else doing it. All I can find are regular traditional monster packs, one is clearly based on pokemon gen 3 but....Its very different

 

[Sword_of_Dusk]

Just....Some people putting silly ideas in my head.. And the fact that there doesn't seem to be anyone else doing it. All I can find are regular traditional monster packs, one is clearly based on pokemon gen 3 but....Its very different

There's no law against mimicking a style. You didn't straight up copy any official Pokémon designs, so you're good to sell.

 

[Willibab]

Thanks everyone I guess I'm just nervous about the prospect of actually selling something It would also suck if people who bought it couldn't use it.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

Natural reaction, man. I had quite the internal crisis when I put my first posts on itch.io.

 

[AquaEcho]

They could easily be SaGa/FF Legend monsters.

 

[Willibab]

They could easily be SaGa/FF Legend monsters.

True, but a lot of these other games don't seem to have backsprites. But I guess that doesnt matter as its still just mimicking a style, not directly taking from them.

 

[ATT_Turan]

Exactly. As I say rather often...you'd benefit from just looking up and reading (or watching explanatory videos) about trademark.

It's pretty straightforward - your stuff has to be claiming to be Pokémon, or copying the actual design such that people would reasonably think it is a Nintendo product.

Just having whimsical-looking monsters in pixel art is not enough to infringe on anyone's anything.

 

[Sword_of_Dusk]

It's pretty straightforward - your stuff has to be claiming to be Pokémon, or copying the actual design such that people would reasonably think it is a Nintendo product.

Yep. I'm still worried that Pokémon Sage is gonna get the dreaded DMCA eventually. Compared to most fauxkémon (just my personal term for fakemon), the ones in Pokémon Sage look far more official than I had expected them to when I first saw the dex.

 

[Willibab]

Exactly. As I say rather often...you'd benefit from just looking up and reading (or watching explanatory videos) about trademark.

It's pretty straightforward - your stuff has to be claiming to be Pokémon, or copying the actual design such that people would reasonably think it is a Nintendo product.

Just having whimsical-looking monsters in pixel art is not enough to infringe on anyone's anything.

I did watch a video but that was the last time I considered selling something. Went away with feeling like the guy was trying to sound intelligent rather then be understood, but it might just be my poor vocabulary too xD

The way you worded it was very understandable though. I suppose I always expect laws to be more rigid then they actually are.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

I suppose it is worth mentioning that it’s definitely not unheard of for companies to C&D similar products because they know someone won’t be able to afford to fight back in court, but it very seldom happens to creators as small as the vast majority of people here are.

 

[AquaEcho]

The RPG Trinity Trigger has an actual Pokemon designer (Atsuko Nishida) on staff designing Pokemon-looking creatures so...

 

[sabao]

These actually give me more Gameboy-era Dragon Quest Monsters designs than Pokemon, if that helps assuage apprehension about putting these up for sale/getting a C&D from Nintendo.

They look absolutely wonderful, and I'd personally buy them if I found other game assets that would match the style.

 

[pawsplay]

Just call them Cute Pixel Monsters or something.

Very nice, by the way.

 

[Willibab]

Just call them Cute Pixel Monsters or something.

Very nice, by the way.

Heh, I just made this


Made a prototype just for fun